11 Things We Learned About Kingdom Hearts 3 at D23 Expo Japan

Still no release date, but a lot of exciting new stuff.

By
Esra Krabbe

Even after a presentation at D23 Expo Japan, we still don’t know exactly when in 2018 Kingdom Hearts III is coming, but during the presentation a lot of new information about the game has come to light. Many of this got lost in translation since the presentation was not streamed and only in Japanese, but IGN Japan was in the room, so let us tell you all the cool new things we learned about the game.

1. New world themed on Monsters, Inc.

Let’s start with the obvious stuff. In the newly revealed trailer, Monsters, Inc. was introduced as the second Pixar world introduced for the game after Toy Story. Sora, Goofy and Donald are clad in monster-like outfits, and they will be teaming up with Sully and Mike to traverse through a world with gimmicks, obstacles and foes that match the setting of the Monsters, Inc. universe.

2. Theme Song "Don't Think Twice" by Hikaru Utada revealed

Japanese pop singer Hikaru Utada wrote and sang the theme songs for the original Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II. 13 years after the last main entry in the series, it was announced that she is on board for Kingdom Hearts III as well. A trailer featuring the game’s theme song “Don’t Think Twice” was shown during the presentation.

3. Gummi Ship goes open world

Traveling through space to reach new worlds with your customizable Gummi Ship has been a staple of the series since the first game. This will evolve to a whole new level for Kingdom Hearts III. While until now you had fly through a linear stage, in Kingdom Hearts III you will be able to freely fly around in 360 degrees through an open environment. The Gummi Ship gameplay will be divided into battle phases and exploration phases. Evolved gameplay here will surely make customizing your Gummi Ship even more important than before.

4. Towns have become much more vibrant

Kingdom Hearts has always been all about visiting your favorite Disney universes. This time, those universes have not just been recreated as action-packed areas, but full-fledged towns have been created as well. During the presentation, footage of the castle town from the Rapunzel world was shown. It looked absolutely stunning, with many NPCs walking around in a town full of shops and residences. If Square Enix has put this much polish into the other towns as well, the game will have a truly fantastic sense of immersion in a Disney world.

5. Programming Rapunzel's hair has been extremely difficult

Tangled is a world that was announced way back when the game was still in its early development stages, but the reason we haven’t seen much footage from it turns out to be Rapunzel’s hair. According to Square Enix, creating smooth and natural movement for her extremely long hair has been one of the most difficult things for the development of Kingdom Hearts III, as it just kept floating unrealistically through the air. During the presentation, a sequence was shown where you could see Rapunzel’s hair waving in the wind, and naturally falling on the floor and staircases, which looked superb. Rapunzel’s hair can interact with the environment as well, by for example wrapping it around a tree. Her hair could very well go down as the most impressive hair in video game history.

6. Background modelling was done by one of the largest teams ever at Square Enix

The team in charge of the background modeling for Kingdom Hearts III’s towns and fields consists of more than 80 people working on the game internally, and parts of it are being outsourced to overseas studios as well. Tetsuya Nomura, the director of Kingdom Hearts III, described it as one of the biggest background modeling teams ever at Square Enix. The result? We can expect many detailed and rich backgrounds in Kingdom Hearts III.

7. There will be links with Kingdom Hearts Union X

The series’ popular smartphone app Kingdom Hearts Union X will connect with Kingdom Hearts III in some way. Right after the presentation, a collaboration with Union X and Final Fantasy Record Keeper was also launched. In Union X, you can now battle Gilgamesh and Kefka and choose classic pixel-art renditions of Final Fantasy characters as your avatar. For Record Keeper, a Gummi Ship mini game is now playable. While it still remains a mystery how Union X will connect with Kingdom Hearts III, the developers mentioned that they want to find a way for Union X players to be able to have some benefit in the new game.

8. Each world is almost its own game

According to the developers, Kingdom Hearts III is on a whole new level compared with the previous installments. A lot of effort has been put into each world, and new mechanics and gameplay are introduced to an extent that each of them could almost be a standalone game. In the newly revealed trailer, Sora, Buzz Lightyear and Woody can be seen flying around on a firework rocket, and in another sequence Sora is hanging from what seems to be a factory belt, all of which suggests a greater variety in gameplay.

9. Giantland will make an appearance in some way (we think)

Footage of the development studio at Square Enix was shown during the presentation, and an image that included the word Giantland was visible. Giantland was one of the earliest Mickey Mouse animated movies, created by Walt Disney in 1933; its story is based on the fairytale Jack and the Beanstalk. This wasn’t a direct announcement but a fairly heavy hint, so we’d say it’s a good bet that Giantland will appear in some way.

10. Rare Heartless will be in the game

Rare Heartless enemies, which require certain strategies to hunt down and defeat, will appear in Kingdom Hearts III. They can be distinguished from normal Heartless by what’s on their head, and each can be defeated through designated missions. It goes without saying that these poor dudes will become the target of all the completionists out there.

11. The last stage will implement something that Tetsuya Nomura has been wanting to do for a very long time

Tetsuya Nomura made an interesting remark about the last stage of the game, saying that what is implemented here is something that he has been wanting to do for a very long time – even when he was still working on the Final Fantasy series. While we don’t know what it is, the developers described it by mentioning that “you can do so many different things here” and that “it is really a compilation of everything up until now.”

Esra Krabbe is an editor at IGN Japan. He really hopes that there will be a world for Lady and the Tramp in Kingdom Hearts III.